Elle Graduates...phew

There were more than a few incidents of chitchatting too much, which resulted in a bear being turned.

There was that day she was marched down to the 6th grade classroom to take a "timeout."

There was that time she refused to take her sunglasses off in the classroom during reading time.

Elle has definitely had her moments in kindergarten this year, but Mrs. O was kind enough to let her move onto first grade anyway.

Elle's Moment

Elle had her first ever gymnastics recital on Saturday.

She was adorable and all smiles!

After a year in dance and a year in tumbling, she has decided she will stick with tumbling (yay).

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, the kids and I visited the cemetery to leave flowers for my mom. We talked about her and all the special times she shared with them.

I am determined to keep her in their memories forever.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, those here on earth and those patiently waiting for us above.

The Best Buttermilk Pancakes

I recently came across this recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook. These are, hands-down, the best buttermilk pancakes I have ever made and I can't stop whipping up a batch every morning!!

You have to give them a try!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3 T. granulated sugar

1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more butter for cooking

3 organic large eggs

Up to 1/2 cup milk, as needed to thin batter

Real Vermont maple syrup, warmed, for serving

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, butter, and eggs together in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking just enough to combine (small lumps are okay). Let the batter sit, covered, overnight (I haven't left it overnight, yet but, I bet this makes it even better).

The next morning, heat up your griddle or favorite nonstick pan and slick it with a little butter.
Add enough milk to the batter to thin it to the right consistency -- the thicker the batter, the thicker and heavier your pancakes; the thinner the batter, the more delicate your pancakes -- neither is wrong.

Cook the pancakes on the griddle, flipping them after bubbles appear on the surface of the uncooked side. Let cook 2-3 minutes more, then remove, and eat with lots of warm maple syrup.

Warrior Dash

This sounded like such a great idea when I signed up months ago.

A short race with some fun obstacles along the way...fun, right.

Well, for me, the verdict is still out.

My sister and I decided to stay together. We wanted to work hard and get a fairly good time, so I would push her through the runs and she'd push me through the obstacles.

When the horn blew, we took off and hot puffs of air shot down at us as we crossed the start line.

We ran about a mile before we came to the first obstacle- climb over waist-high barrier, crawl under fence, repeat, repeat, repeat.

The next obstacle we came to was a series of steep hills of deep, loose dirt. This is where I took my first spill.

Then, we approached one of my favorite obstacles, the tires. We quick-stepped through several tires and then, climbed over of some old junkyard cars.

We ran on and by this time I was hot and really thirsty.

The course then took us through more obstacles requiring climbing, balancing, jumping, and ducking.

Finally, we rounded a corner and came to some obstacles that our friends and family could get a good view of- the hay wall and the net wall.

The remaining obstacles included a bungee maze, rope wall, and crawl across a net.

As we rounded the last corner the finish line was in view.

I was so hot at this point and the heat from the flames ahead were not helping. Bri and I took a giant leap over the fire and headed for the mud pit.

As we approached, I realized we were the only two racers around, nobody was in the mud pit, and all of the spectators were staring right at us.

Great. We had every one's attention. People were yelling, "Dive!"'

I stepped in and fell right to my knees. I immediately realized this was going to be a challenge. The mud was thick, deep, and mostly gravel. I tried to dig my feet in, but it wasn't working. Crawling on my hands and knees was the only option.

I moved my knee forward on the gravel and quickly learned my knees were not getting out of this looking pretty.

I continued as fast as I could. I just wanted out of the mud.

Bri and I finished together.

Today my knees are sore and scraped up and I can't decide if I'll do this again. I did get a great workout in and it was some awesome people watching. But, the part I thought would be the most fun- the mud, turned out to be less than enjoyable...

and I'm still finding mud in strange places.